Spain’s Dani Olmo: ‘Germany are a tough opponent. This

The RB Leipzig forward faces current teammates and his former manager in the first quarter-final of Euro 2024

Dani Olmo would like to set the record straight. “David Raum claimed he had blocked me but I can categorically deny that,” he says. In fact, he and his RB Leipzig teammates, not just Raum but Benjamin Henrichs too, have been on the phone a bit the past few days. There’s been no bet, but there has been a warning. “‘Look out!’ ‘Don’t come to my wing!’ – the usual,” Spain’s No 10 says. “People sometimes think it’s a big deal, but it’s normal.” And with that, he flashes a smile he hasn’t properly fixed since a training-ground elbow from Christoph Baumgartner knocked two teeth out, but says he will once the Euros are over.

Sometimes the danger from those Red Bull boys is real. As for this? Spain versus Germany in the quarter-final is a very big deal: a clásico, Olmo calls it. For him, there’s something extra too: one of two Spain internationals playing in Germany, along with the Bayer Leverkusen left-back Álex Grimaldo, he may be more appreciated there than back home, where he has never played professionally; his partner, Laura, is German; he faces teammates and best mates; and then there’s the coach who took him there in the first place, playing a big part in bringing him here, a key part of a unique career path.